Compassion vs Empathy: What’s the Difference?

The difference at a glance

Empathy is feeling what another feels. Compassion is empathy combined with an active, burning desire to help or alleviate that person's suffering.

Example sentences are illustrative learning examples, not verified quotations.

noun · /kəmˈpæʃən/

Sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others; the desire to alleviate another's suffering.

She received the news with compassion — not pity, which keeps distance, but the genuine joining with the difficulty.

Compassion fatigue: the exhaustion that comes from sustained exposure to others' suffering.

noun · /ˈempəθi/

The ability to understand and share the feelings of another person; imaginatively entering another's inner experience.

Her empathy for her clients went beyond professional concern — she carried their worries home.

Good writing is an act of empathy — the author inhabits someone else's life.

What is the difference between Compassion and Empathy?

Empathy is feeling what another feels. Compassion is empathy combined with an active, burning desire to help or alleviate that person's suffering.

What does Compassion mean?

Sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others; the desire to alleviate another's suffering.

What does Empathy mean?

The ability to understand and share the feelings of another person; imaginatively entering another's inner experience.